The Boy Wonder #3 is written and drawn by Juni Ba and published by DC. Colours are by Chris O’Halloran and letters by Aditya Bidikar. Main cover art (left) is also by Juni Ba.
The Boy Wonder #3 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon ComiXology UK right here.
Synopsis
The cunning Tim Drake has always been the smartest of Batman’s sons… and the most comfortable matching wits with the most sinister geniuses on Earth. Damian Wayne doesn’t like feeling outsmarted—to him, no smugly-written insult could ever be sharper than his sword—so when he’s forced to infiltrate a super-villain gala alongside the sneaky Red Robin, the biggest danger the two of them face might not be Lex Luthor but Damian’s own temper!
Review
Time for the next instalment of Juni Ba’s Black Label The Boy Wonder. This time it’s the turn of Tim Drake to take the spotlight as the next of the Robins to team with Damian for an adventure. With the formula now tried and tested this is the series’ most fun issue to-date, reflecting the levity of its guest star and his influencer over Bruce Wayne’s young son.
The versatility in Ba’s storytelling is all over this latest issue as the weight and darkness of Jason Todd’s story is replaced by a night on the town with Tim. After a brief establishing scene between Damian and his captor we’re straight down to business with this month’s team of Robins. The two are taking Bruce’s place, attending a fundraiser being thrown by Mayor Oswald at Cobblepot Tower. Yes, in this version of the DCU Oswald managed to move beyond being pelted by rotten vegetables and became the actual mayor of Gotham.
The event is being attended by some of DC’s biggest business-villains including Maxwell Lord, Veronica Cale and Lex Luthor. Not only are these billionaires known criminals but Oswald has had the audacity to decorate Cobblepot Tower with statues of the Justice League. The cheek! Damian is, of course, not impressed and feels like Tim wants nothing more than to ingratiate himself to these vile characters. The setup speaks to Ba’s mission to have each issue explore Damian discovering more about his contemporaries as well as learning a little more about himself.
The introduction of this version of Oswald Cobblepot is joyously monstrous. It has much more in common with Danny DeVito’s portrayal in Batman Returns than with more contemporary takes on the character. Ba leans in to the most fantastical and demonic elements of The Boy Wonder’s visuals to find the character design. There’s an almost Genndy Tartakovsky-like quality to the character design but even more hyper-stylised. We’ve had some really interesting insights in to the wider Gotham world around Damian. But as it isn’t the focus of the book we haven’t spent too much time on it. I’d be interested to see more of this world, particularly its Batman, once this Damian-focussed story is over.
Taking a slightly more James Bond-like approach to the mission this issue, Damian employs a few Wayne-Tech items as he attempts to bypass Cobblepot security and find out what’s really going on. It shines a light on a more high-tech side of Damian’s crime fighting. Something which again fits alongside an appearance by Tim as Red Robin. Tonally it makes The Boy Wonder #3 the most playful and adventurous of the series so far. I love how Ba is willing to flex the genre and tone in relation to Damian’s partner, particularly when it leads in to a fun team-up fight sequence like in the closing moments of this issue.
We leave The Boy Wonder’s latest issue on the biggest cliffhanger yet. With the reveal of the demon who has been stalking Damian it sets up a potentially huge finale for this gothic fairytale story. It also has given me the realisation I’m just not ready for it to be over in two-issues time.
Verdict
Another incredible issue from Juni Ba. The latest in Damian’s series of team-ups heralds a lighter, more playful tone but never compromises the mission to explore who he is as a character.
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